The Sistine Chapel in Sussex – painted by the Michelangelo of Goring-by-Sea

How did a church in a quiet Sussex borough end up with an astonishing, hand-painted copy of the world’s most famous ceiling? Deacon Gary Bevans talks us through his creation

The Sistine Chapel is easy to find. Just follow the A259 through Goring-by-Sea until you see the low, spireless red brick English Martyrs Church. Enter this Catholic place of worship – and look up.Above the simple wooden pews, laid out in bold yellows, greens, pinks and blues, you can see God dividing the land and waters, making the sun and Earth, reaching out a powerful finger to spark life into Adam.

It’s Michelangelo’s masterpiece all right, superbly replicated by the Sussex church’s deacon, Gary Bevans. Created between 1987 and 1993, his achievement seems all the more remarkable now that digital reproductions of the original are having a bit of a moment. HBO’s The Young Pope and its follow-up The New Pope both use hi-tech digital copies, as does Netflix’s The Two Popes. Yet Bevans’ version is hand-painted. That makes it a human story – and a human masterpiece.

Continue reading...